The Peterson Principal

It would seem it wouldn’t take the death of an owner to get a team motivated but whatever it takes I guess. There have been three straight victories since the death of Dr. Jerry Buss and Dwight Howard is still in the fold so it looks like the Lakers are on the right track.

I can understand Mich Kupchak not wanting to trade Howard- after all he is still the best center in today’s NBA- but saying that there will one day be a statue of Howard outside Staples Center is quite a stretch.

What wasn’t a stretch was Kobe Bryant guaranteeing that the Lakers will make the playoffs. It’s always funny to me when the media (yeah I know I’m a small part of it) blows up these things. I mean really, what was Bryant supposed to say when he was asked if the Lakers would make the playoffs? What would you think of him if he said “No, we have no chance. We’ll never make it. We might as well just fold the tents now.”

Muhammad Ali always guaranteed victory. All the great ones do. In fact I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever heard a coach or player in any sporting event say they won’t win or be successful. It makes no sense. But suddenly Kobe guaranteeing a Laker playoff spot last week is earth shattering news.

Crescenta Valley looked good Friday night. Cole Currie lit it up for 27 points to lead the Falcons to a victory over Millikan. The place was packed and the Falcon faithful was loud until the end. Great atmosphere. It kind of gave you the feeling that CV really is a basketball school. Just a quick note to administrators however: It’s ok to ask a photographer or writer to move back. They will gladly oblige. Just don’t put your hands on them…not cool.

The good news for the Falcons is that they are in the Division 1A Semi Finals. The bad news is that they have to travel out to El Toro on Tuesday night.

It’s strange not to see Pasadena still playing.

Nice run for the La Canada Lady Spartans advancing to the semi finals. If you take away the first quarter they might have gotten it done. They trailed by ten at the end of the first quarter and lost the game by that same margin. It took them a little while to get warmed up and they were never able to get over the hump. Keep an eye on Amber Graves over the next three years. She’s only a freshman and is already a force inside. She scored 12 points and at times looked unstoppable down on the block.

So we finally found out where Jude Oliva would land when it was announced Friday that he was the new OC at Maranatha. It will be interesting to see how explosive the Minutemen can be with Oliva running the show. Andrew Elffers going down last September for the year was devastating for Maranatha, but what it did do was get the Eli Snyder era underway a year early. The sophomore threw for 693 yards and 10 touchdowns and will now get a chance to work with a great offensive mind like Oliva.

Just when we thought we were done with the coaching changes Chris Long steps down at Arcadia. By all accounts Long wasn’t forced out and the decision was solely his. In fact sources say it came as a surprise to the AD and the coaching staff. Now where do the Apaches go from here? Do they stay in house? Do they look for an experienced coach outside of the school? Do they ask Jon Dimalante to come back? Would former Temple City HC/Arcadia assistant Randy Backus consider taking the job? As usual we have to mention the name that always surfaces when there is a job opening. Matt Koffler is available.